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Bayern, Flamengo and the battle of the high press
- Flamengo and Bayern München will met in the Round of 16
- The pair have put on a show so far in the States
- Both sides are known for their high-pressing system
One thing is certain ahead of the showdown on Sunday between CR Flamengo and FC Bayern München in Miami: the defenders on both sides aren't going to have it all their own way in possession.
Led by the two youngest coaches at the FIFA Club World Cup 2025™, both teams heading into this last-16 clash are renowned for their intense, high pressing.
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According to a study conducted by the CIES Football Observatory, with participants from the English, Spanish, Italian, German, French and Brazilian top divisions, Flamengo and Bayern are the teams that begin pressing to regain possession closest to their opponent’s goal.
The Rio giants top this ranking. According to the research, Flamengo’s defensive line presses, on average, are 59.04 metres away from their own goal – well past the half-way line.
“It’s about putting pressure on the opponent, taking the initiative, and being as vertical and direct as possible," said coach Filipe Luis. "That’s what our fans ask of us and what we’ll try to deliver."
Vincent Kompany, who at 39 years and two months old is eight months Luis' junior, has built a Bayern side that is not far behind the Brazilian's when it comes to deploying high lines to recover the ball.
The CIES report identifies the Bavarians as having the second-highest defensive line, level with Arsenal. During the 2024/25 season, Bayern started pressing to win the ball back 57.16 metres from their own goal line, on average.
“When Kompany came in and explained his ideas about football to us and what he expected from us, I immediately liked him," French forward Kingsley Coman said. "We used to play with a really high line when we won the Champions League [in 2019/20]. When you play that way, you hardly ever get attacked."
With both Flamengo and Bayern committed to similar tactical principles, what could define this Round-of-16 tie is not how they play, but rather how well they execute their coach’s strategy. That’s the view of former right-back Jorginho, a FIFA World Cup™ winner with Brazil in 1994, who also had successful spells at both clubs.
“I’m certain it’s going to be a very tactical match, extremely tactical," he said. "Both teams press high up the pitch, but a high line leaves you exposed. For me, that will be the key: which side can be more organised in defensive transition. What I notice is that both sides find it difficult to organise themselves in the defensive transition.”
Flamengo boast significantly better defensive statistics than Bayern this season. In 2025, Filipe Luis’ team has conceded just 19 goals in 38 matches – an average of 0.5 per game. Bayern, on the other hand, have shipped 53 goals in 54 matches over the 2024/25 campaign, levelling out at 0.98 per game.
However, the attack that Kompany has assembled has been far more prolific, averaging 2.78 goals per game (150 goals in total) compared with the 1.95 of Flamengo (74 goals).
“If Flamengo can organise themselves defensively in that transition, when they are high up the field but they lose the ball, then they have every chance of beating Bayern,” Jorginho concluded.
There are more parallels to be drawn between these two promising young tacticians, each aiming to take their side to the Club World Cup quarter-finals.
Both Filipe Luis and Kompany only recently hung up their boots after careers spent at the back where the pair enjoyed elite-level careers at top European clubs. The former left-back was a league champion in Spain with Atlético de Madrid, where he made over 300 appearances, and in England with Chelsea FC. The Belgian centre-back spent nine years at Manchester City, captaining the team for several seasons, while winning four Premier League titles.
All of that will go out of the window on the weekend, though, when their sides are left to battle it out in this intriguing Miami match-up between two of the tournament's most exciting sides.
